The Supreme Court noted that all adverse evidence must be presented in the form of questions while an accused is being examined according to Section 313 CrPC in order to provide the accused a chance to present his defence and provide an explanation.
“If all the circumstances are bundled together and a single opportunity is provided to the accused to explain himself, he may not able to put forth arational and intelligible explanation.”, the bench made up of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, Justices Krishna Murari, and Hima Kohli noted. Unless the accused succeeds in demonstrating that serious prejudice has been inflicted to him, the court explained that such an omission does not automatically invalidate the trial.
The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (often known as the “IPC”), Section 307, and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act, 1959, all resulted in the accused’s concurrent convictions. The court was debating the accused’s appeal at the time. According to the prosecution’s case against the defendant, he and the other defendant went to the complainant’s home and called him outside. When the complainant emerged, the appellant fired a weapon that was made in his country at him. The mother of the deceased’s evidence was used by the trial court to find the accused guilty.
The bench of the Apex Court said in the appeal that additional witness statements needed to be properly examined. The bench read the statement and determined that it does not instil trust.
The accused had claimed in his Section 313 statement that he and the complainant belonged to competing student groups and that he had been wrongly implicated in the incident as a result of the enmity surrounding the elections. At order to support his alibi, he also provided two witnesses who testified that he was in his village because his mother was ill. The Court was also informed that the complainant’s father, sister, and brother were all officers in the police force.
The bench noted that the Trial Court and the High Court’s rulings did not carefully consider the defence explanation offered by the accused in his Section 313 statement.